55 Biblical Names Reaching New Heights…

Biblical baby name style is riding high. Names like Elijah and Isaiah are major hits, with Ezekiel, Delilah, Emmanuel, Malachi, Nehemiah and more close on their heels. The more distinctly biblical a name sounds, the more parents are drawn to it — and they’re reaching ever deeper to find unusual names that fill the bill.

To show off the reach of this new biblical style, I’ve assembled a list of 55 names from the Bible that are currently at all-time historic peaks for U.S. usage. (As in the Bible itself, male names predominate.) Some of the names will likely strike you as handsome antiques; others as genuine surprises based on sound and style, or in a few cases because of the biblical figures they represent.

But before presenting the 55 hot names, I should mention a biblical name currently at its all-time historic low: Mary. And here’s a historical graph of the popularity of Mary vs. all seven of the new biblical hits listed in the opening paragraph:

That’s a little reminder that it’s biblical style, rather than Bible names per se, that today’s parents are hunting for.